Signal.Flow
2010
Yung-Ta Chang
Commissioned by ZER01 with support form the Taiwan Cultural Council
Signal.Flow, like Radio Nonchalance San Jose: Dispatches from South Hall, highlights San Jose’s rich role in the history of radio.
The acrylic tubes are bolted vertically to the ground outside the entrance of South Hall. Inside each, is a array of red LEDs that rotated by motor, a radio receiver, and speakers. The tube lights “play” the audio waveforms of the radio signal being received, which is controlled by IR-sensors. As people approach the tubes, they switch more and less quickly between radio stations, creating, essentially, a new station of fragments of the total on air programming in San Jose. As they spin, the LEDs create new visual patternsfrom the audio waveforms being displayed. The soundscape environment is unique to San Jose in terms of both radio and pedestrian traffic. It is also intended as a performance device, which people can “play” by their proximity to the devices.
